Power drive mechanism



May 8, 1928.

H. C. OSBORN POWER DRIVE MECHANISM Original Filed June 4. 1926 4 s t -sh t 1 gwuwnfoc May s, 1928.

1 68,867 H. c. OSBORN POWER DRIVE MECHANISI Original Filed June 4, 1926 4 sh t -sheet 2 attomqs I H. c. OSBORN POWER DRIVE mscnmism Original Filed June 4. 1926 4 sh t -sheet, 3

Fl a. 5

734/ Rank $66656 May s, 1928. 1,668,867 H. C. OSBORN POWER DRIVE MECHANI SM Original Filed June 4. 1926 4 sh ts-Sheet, 4

Patented May 8, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT (OFFICE-Q HENRY C. OSBORN, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO. THE AMERICAN MULTI- GRArH COMPANY,

Original application filed June 4,1926, Serial No. 113,601. Divided 1925. se ial 1w. 139,257.

This invention relates to a mechanism adapted to be coupled with a continuously operating source of power for'delivering controlled periodic rotations to the dr ven machine as for instance a rotary printing machine. More particularly the power drive is controlled by a'manually operable member and when released givesa single ro- 'tation to the printing machine, stopping the same subject to a succeedlng release.

My power drive mechanism is well adapted for driving a multigraph.

The above. characteristics, 1 and others which are comprised within my invention, will be hereinafter described in connection with a preferred embodiment of the invention illustratedin the drawings hereof, and the essential characteristics will be .summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical Iongitudinal section throughmy power drive anda surmountiiw multigraph with which it operates, as indicated by the line 1 -1 on Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a sectional rear elevationon the line 2'-2 on Fig. 3. Fig. 3isa bottom plan of the powerdrive mechanism, the gear casing cover being broken away; Fig. 41s a vertical transverse section through the same 1 parts and a portion of the st'and' for the complete mechanism, on the ofiset plane indicated by tlie line 2 -2 on F igl 1; Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical transverse sections through the clutch, on the plane's indicated ll ry the correspondingly numbered lines on The multigraph machine sh wn inFigs'. 1, 2 and' 4 comprises a rotary drum 10 mounted on a shaft 11, journalled in end frame plates12 and 13 abovea roller platen 14: mounted on a shaft 15. Gearinglfi and 17 and an Oldhar'n'coupling 18 connect the drum and platen.

I have shown, mounted on the drum, means for printing the body of a. form letter, such means comprising ablanket 20.

(shown conventionally in Fig. a) stretched about a segment 21 on the drum and ha ving raised overhanging members 22 (Fig. 2) for carrying embossed printing strips not shown. The segment is shown as a semicylinder resting on the end members 28 and 29 (Fig. 1) of the drum and held in place 7 i by a spring hook 24' engagingthe shaft 11.

or CLEVELAND, 01110, A conronn'rron rowan muvr: MECHANISM.

An inking" ribbon 2 5is shown as mounted on spools 27 carried between the end meni bers of; the drum, such ribbon extending in termediately about the printing form.

The paper may be fed to the multigraph manually or automatically as desired. I have shown no feeding mechanism, but have indicated at 40, Fig. 4, a pair ofcoa'cting rolls which may be geared with the platen and periodically caused to engage to control the feed, as will be well understood.

The frame of the power drive comprises a horizontalbed plate 52 which may rest on the top of a usual stand 53 whichsupports the driving motor (not shown). The multigraphmachinerests on top of this bed plate. The power drive supports on its underside a pulley 55 connectedby a belt 56 with the motor, and has a clutch controlled by ahan'd operated plunger to connect such pulley with a shaft 60 which is geared \vith the multigraph machine.

The gearing connecting the power drive shaft GQwith the multigraph is best shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, and comprisesa pinion 61 on the endof the shaft meshing with an heretoforestated meshes witlrthe gear 17 on" the lnnltigraph drum. The lay shaft 63 is mountedin an endjwall 65 ofthe bed late 52 and aral'lel depending web 66 of that plate. he left hand end of the .shaftSO is alsoinountedin such web. Be neath theTweb' and the end Wall a IBl'i'iOV- able bottom plate 68, these parts constituting a gear casing. The mainlshaft 60 of the power drive is journalle'dfat its left hand end'in a bracket 70 depending. from the bed plate 52. Intermediately it piasses through'a hub sleeve 72 of the; pulley '55 which is journalledin :1. depending frame bracket 73. The pulley as shown is conical, having several grooves of different diameter to reeiv the belt 56 from a reversely coned pulley on the motor. The pulley 55 also acts as one member of. the manually'controlled clutch about to bedescribed. a The pulley 55has in it-sleft hand face and this application filed water 4, i

Fig. 1, a circular recess 80 with several,

in this recess is a floating clutch disk 83, preferably faced on its opposite sides with eather, and having ears 84 occupying the notches. This disk is thus compelled to rotate with the pulley, but being shiftable axially with reference thereto. On the right hand side of the disk in Fig. 1 is a disk 85 which is rigid with the shaft, this disk being shown as having a sleeve 86 surrounded by a collar 87, both the collar and the sleeve being pinned to the shaft by a pin88. Slidable on the sleeve 86 is another clutch member 90 which lies on the left hand side 0f the floating member 83. The disk 85 carries a pin 91 slidably occupying a hole in the disk 90, and thus these two disks can not rotate independently. The disk 90 has a sleeve on which is threaded a disk 92. The threading enables the adjustment of the disk but it is held against displacement by a spring 93 (Fig. 5) engaging any one of a number of notches in the periphery of the disk.

Pivoted to the collar 87 (which is rigid on the shaft 60) are cam levers 95, of which three are shown, which hear at their inner edges against the disk 92 and at their outer or left hand ends against the exterior of a shiftable operating collar 100. This shiftable collar, which is splined on the shaft 60 to rotate with it, has a conical inner end 101 adaptedv to swing the coacting ends of the levers and thus cam the clutch disk 92 toward the right, when the collar is moved toward the right, Fig. 1, as it may be by an operating lever 110, which carries a roller 111 occupying a groove 103 in the collar.

\Vhen the collar 100 is relatively distant from the clutch, compression springs .97 force the disk 83 toward the left, thus freeing the constantly rotating member 81. When the collar 100 is forced toward the right, the levers are swung outwardly, thus forcing the disk 90 toward the right and binding the leather faced disk 83 between the two clutch members 90 and 85, thus locking the clutch pulley 55 to the shaft 60.

It will be seen from the above description that when the collar is shifted toward the right, Fig.1, the clutch is engaged and the shaft 60 rotated and the multigraph drum and platen rotated accordingly. On the other hand, when the collar is shifted to the left, the clutch is free so that the driving of the shaft ceases.

To prevent further rotation of this shaft to momentum, when the clutch is released, I provide 'a very simple brake controlled by the left hand movement of the'clutch collar. This, as shown, consists of a pair of leather disks 120 and 121 and an intermediate steel disk 122 all splined on the shaft 60 and adapted to bear against the adjacent face of the bearing bracket 70. A suitable washer 123 bears against the right hand end of the disk 121. When the clutch collar 100 is moved to its left hand position its end abuts this washer 123 and applies this brake, immediately stopping the rotation of the shaft 60. 'VVhen the clutch collar is shifted away ing bar 132 mounted in cars 133 and 134 on the underside of the frame plate 52. This bar is connected by a link 135 (Fig. 2) with one arm of a bell crank 136 which is pivoted to the car 133 depending from the frame. The other arm of the bell crank is connected by the link 138 with the manual plunger 50.

It results from the linking described that when the plunger 50 is depressed, the bar 132 is shoved toward the left in Fig. 2 (that is, toward the right in Figs. 1 and 3), setting the clutch and causing rotation of the drive shaft 60. This rotation continues as long as the plunger remains depressed. It may be held down manually or the parts may be locked in such engaged position by means hereinafter described, but ordinarily it is' latched by mechanism which is released at the end of a rotation, thus giving periodic single rotations to the multigraph machine. This latching mechanism will now be described.

Suitably geared with the multigraph drum so as to make one rotation for each rotation of the drum is a cam 140 (Fig. 4). As shown, this cam is on the side of a gear 141 which is mounted on a stub shaft carried by the end wall of the frame. This gear meshes with a pinion 143 rigid with the gear (52 on the lay shaft 63. The cam 140 coacts with ilever 145 pressed upwardly by a spring 146 shown as adjustable by a screw 147 mounted in the gear casing cover 68. The lever 145 coacts with the bar 132 and is adapted to occupy a notch 148 therein and retain that bar against return movement until the lever 145 is depressed.

Whenever the plunger 50 is shoved down, as heretofore described, it carries the bar 132 to the left in Fig. 2, the beveled end 149 cam ming 'the lever 145 downwardly and the spring 146 returning this lever into the notch 148. This engagement holds the bar 132 when the pressure of the operators hand is removed from the plunger 50, and thus the clutch remains in engagement as the rotation continues. However, as the rotation is just being completed, the cam 140 shoves downlon nee ed? clutch continues engaged for a subsequent ill rotation or rotations. If however, the pressure is relieved at any time during a; given rotation the movementstops at the completion of that rotation.

It is sometimes desired tolock the clutch continuously in engagement, or look it in disengaged position so that the machine may be turned freely by hand; To accomplish this I provide the following mechanism:

The shipper lever 110 extends forwardly of the frame in position'to be readily engaged by the operator-at 150. This lever passes through a slotted keeper plate 151 (Figs. 2 and 3) secured to and depending from the front wall of the frame 52. In

ordinary operation, thelever oscillates in the eled, as shown at 156. a

. It results from the mechanism just described that as the lever 110 is forced downwardly into either of the extension notches 15401 155, the effectof the spring 130 is to hook the lever beneath the overhanging end of the slot and retain it in this position. lVhen the lever is in the notch 154, the clutch is engaged and will remain so for continuous rotationsuntil the lever is released. When the lever is in the notch 155 the shipper collar 1.00 is in an intermediate position and neither is the clutch applied nor the brake engaged. The result is that the printing machine is entirely free from the power drive and may be turned by hand as desired.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple and eflicient power drive which occupies little space, being mounted out of the way on a top for the stand which carriesthe printing machine. The provision of giving the power drive a normal operation of periodic single rotations, with the feature for locking it either in continuous operation or entirely disengaged, allows ready control to meet all conditions arising in practice. The top of the hand operated plunger in such case may readily form a rest for the operators hand in the positionwhich that handnaturally occupies in placing an address plate on the drum or receiving it therefrom. Such feature is claimed in the parent application nieii tioned. i

My prior application No. 113,601, filed June l, 1926, of which thisis a division, shows the 'n'iultigraph equipped to carry a changeable address plate, shoved into place from the left hand end of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: I p

1. In a power drive mechanism, the combination with a machine to be driven, of a rotary shaft, train of gearing connecting thesame with the machine to be driven, a.

clutch for controlling the shaft, a shipper lever for the clutch, a longitudinal sliding bar connected with the shipper lever, manual means-for moving the bar, and a spring tending to move the shipper lever in opposition to the movement caused by said manual means, a retaining device for the actuated bar, and a cam geared with the member to be driven and periodically acting means for moving the retaining device to releasing position.

2. The combination, with a driving shaft, of a clutch for delivering rotations thereto, a shipper lever for controlling the clutch, a keeper plate for the shipper lever having a shoulder adapted to overhangit and retain it in a certain position when the lever is manually diverted from its normal path of movement, and means operated for each cycle of operation of the driven machine to disengage the clutch when the shipper lever has not been diverted from its normal path.

The combination, with a driving shaft, of-a clutch for delivering rotations thereto, a shipper lever for controlling the clutch, a manually operable device for moving the shipper lever in a certain path, a member having a shoulder adapted to retain the shipper lever in a certain position when the lever is manually diverted from its normal path of movement, and means operated for each'cycle' of operation of the driven machine to disengage the clutch when the shipper lever has not been diverted from its normal path.

4. The combination of a shaft, a clutch for delivering power thereto, a shipper lever for operating the clutch, a spring tending to move the shipper lever in the direction to release the clutch, a keeper for the shipper lever having a. notch into which it maybe pressed away from its normal path of movement, said spring then tending to hold the shipper lever in said notch, whereby the clutch may be retained definitely in a given position, and means operated for each cycle of operation of the driven machine to disengage the clutch when the shipper lever has not been diverted from its normal path.

5. The combination of a shaft to be driven, a clutch for applying power to the shaft, a brake for stopping rotation of the shaft, 21.

lever, enablin the spring to release the clutch, said shipper lever operating in a slot in a keeper, said slot having a notch into which the shipper lever may be diverted to hold it continuouslyin a position with the clutch applied.

7 A combination, with a stand and a machine to be driven, of an intermediate member mounted on top of the stand and forming a support for said machine, which rests on top of said member, a rotary drive shaft mounted on the under side of said member, a. gear driven by said shaft and accessible above the top plate and adapted to mesh with a gear on the driven machine, a clutch for controlling thedrive shaft, said clutch being operable by a shiftable collar, mechanism for shifting said collar including a bar provided with a shoulder, a retaining member spring pressed to engage said shoulder and means adapted to act periodically on said retaining member to release said bar.

8. A combination of aframe, a power shaft carried thereby, a clutch on the shaft for applying power thereto, a brake disk rotat-able with the shaft, a stationary member erate a member to be driven, a clutch for controlling the shaft, a shipper lever for the clutch, a longitudinal sliding bar connected with the shipper lever, a downwardly acting plunger, links and a bell crank connecting the same with the bar, a spring tending to move the shipper lever in opposition to the movement caused by the downward action of the plunger, and means operated once for each cycle of operation of the member being driven to disengage the clutch.

10. The combination With a machine to be driven, a plate for supporting it of power mechanism for driving said machine mounted on the under side of said plate and including a shaft gearedwvith the machine and a clutch for controlling the shaft, a plunger passing through the plate, mechanism operable thereby for engaging the clutch, said plunger terminating atits upper end in a hand pad alongside of the machine, and means operated once for each cycle of operation of the member being driven to disengage the clutch.

Intestimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

HENRY C. OSBORN. 

